Gate-operating device for shafts



R. H. STEVENS. GATE OPERATING DEVICE FOR SHAFTS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1918.

Patented June 8, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

R. H. STEVENS.

GATE OPERATING DEVICEJ-OR SHAFTS.

APPLICATION mwnov. 7. I918.

1,342,832, Patented June 8, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2'.

Z 5: *wm W5 )3 a KMQ MQM R. H. STEVENS.

GATE OPERATING DEVICE FOR SHAFTS. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 19I8.

Patented June 8, 1920 4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

INVENTOR 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

INVENTOR Q W R. H. STEVENS. GATE OPERATING DEVICE FOR SHAFTS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1-918. 1,342,832. Patented June 8, 1920.

WZTN ESSES UNITED STATES RICHARD H. STEVENS, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GATE-OPERATING DEVICE FOR SHAFTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented June 8, 1920.

Application filed November 7, 1918. Serial No. 261,516.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD H. STE- VENS, residing at Philadelphia, Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Gate-Operating Devices for Shafts, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a partial side elevation partly broken away showing one form of my invention; g

Fig. 2 is a partial view at right angles to Fig. 1, showlng the cam guides on the cage of the gate or door.

The main features of my invention lie in a gate-lifting mechanism having a clutch system which is automatically connected by the car when at the desired level, this mech anism also having a hand control to complete the chain of connections for lifting the gate or door.

The gate is closed by gravity, independently of the motor or power mechanism after the car leaves the landing. The power mechanism operates the gate only in opening, and the mechanism is simple and not liable to get out of order, there being no compressed fluid, such as air, used therein.

In the drawings, referring first to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the shaft gate 2 moves vertically on side guides 3, 3. It is lifted by a cable 4, extending over .pulleys 5 and 6, and thence down to the lifting. mechanism hereinafter described. The cage, a portion of which is shown at '7, is provided with curved cam guides 8, 8, secured to its side, and preferably of the general form shown in Flg. 2. The flanges ofthese guides engage overhung roller 9, projecting inwardly from the lower the shaft 33.

endof lever 10, projecting down from shaft 11 mounted in stationary bearing 12 at the side of the shaft. A spring-controlled rod 13 holds the roller 9 in proper'position to enter the cage guides.

To the other end of shaft 11 is secured a sheave 14, which actuates wire rope 15, extending over rope sheave 16, secured to the shaft 17 of the door hoist.

. The shaft 17 is 'rotatably mounted in a bearing ona housing 18, for a winding drum and its actuating mechanism. This actuating mechanism is clearly illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, and comprises a hollow shaft 33, mounted in bearing members 34 and 36, the bearing member 34 being formed integrally with the housing 18, while the bearing 36 is provided with a flange 37, seated in one end of the housing 18, to which it is secured. This shaft 33 is held in position in the bear ings by means of nuts 33 threaded on the ends thereof. fi-otatably mounted on the shaft 33 is a worm wheel 32, which meshes with a worm 39, secured to a driving motor 41 by means of a coupling 40, and is rotatably mounted, in bearings 38 on the housing 18. This worm wheel 32 is held from endwise movement on the shaft 33 by means of a collar 35, shrunk on the shaft 33, or secured thereto in any desired manner. The worm wheel 32 is provided with a conical clutch member 31, which is arranged to be engaged by a similar clutch member 28, on a winding drum 27 for the cable 4. This winding drum is rotatably mounted on the hollow shaft 33 along which it is adapted to move between frictional disks 30. These frictional disks 30 are connected to a clutchactuating rod 26 by means of keys 29, which pass through slots in the clutch rod 26, as well as slots in Mounted on one end of this rod 26 is a crosshead 25, and interposed between said crosshead and the left-hand key, as. viewed from Fig. 5, is a sleeve 45; and 42 is a spring interposed between the other side of said sleeve and nuts 44 on the end of the rod 2", for .yieldingly holding the parts in the positions shown in Fig. 5. The other end of said rod is also provided with nuts 44, and interposed between said nuts and the right-hand key 29 is a sleeve 45*. By adjusting either of the nuts 44 or 44, the tension of the spring 42 may be adjusted for varying the frictional contact between the disks 30 and the hub of the drum 27. 21 is a bifurcated lever :which is connected to the crosshead 25,the one end of said lever being pivotally connected at 22 to one end of a link 23, which is, in turn, connected 24 to the housing 18. The other end of this lever 21 is pivotally connected to a crank arm 19, on

the shaft 17, by means of a link 20, the arrangement being such that when the shaft 17 is rocked clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 5, by the cable 15, the clutch member 28 Wlll be moved into engagement with a clutch member 31; and as soon as the electrical connections to the motor 41 are closed, as hereinafter described, the drum 27 will be rotated to wind up the cable 4 and thereby elevate the gate 2. The spring 42, through the 'medium of the disks 30, forms a brake for V thedrum 27 to prevent the spinning thereof from the gate 2 is a striker 48, which is,

adapted to engage a projection 49 on the rod 46, whenthe gate has been moved to a predetermined height in order to break the circuit to themotor 41. The motor 41 is connected by a wire 50 with one contact 51 of an electrical switch, the other contact 52 thereof being connected to a wire 53, leading from the source of current. The other wire 54 from the source of current leads directly to the motor 41. Pivotally connected at any suitable point on the framework at the proper height above the floor at which a car is to be stopped is a switch lever 55, having a finger 56, adapted to close the contacts 51 and 52. One arm of this lever 55 is arranged to be struck by a tappet 57 on the rod 46,

when the gate has been moved to its proper 45 height to break the circuit to the motor 41.

In operation, as the cage nears the level of the floor, the guides 8 thereon actuate the particular roller 9 at that floor, and thus through a series of connections actuates the clutch rod 26 and moves the clutch members 28 and 31 into engagement with each other. If the cage is stopped at this level,

. the operator then shifts the switch lever 55 f with it'thedrum 27 to wind up the cable 4 and lift-the gate 2 from the full line position in Fig. 1 tothe' dotted line position. As the gate moves toward the dotted line position'near the end of its movement, the tappet 48 thereon will engage the projection 49 on the rod 46 and lift said rod so that the tappet 57 thereon will shift the switch lever .to disconnect the clutch members 28 and 31,

so that the gate 2 will move to its closed position by gravity. ,Any shock of the downward movement of the gate will be taken up by the spring or springs 43 surrounding the guides 3. The speed of the closing movement of the gate 2 is controlled by the fric- I tional engagement of'the disks 30 against the hub of the drum 27, as before described.

It will be readily appreciated that the door can not be moved to its open positionby its actuating mechanism, unless the cage is at that floor level to close the clutch- If the electrical connections at that particular floor should be closed, when thecage passes said floor, the gate might be slightly raised by means of the motor, but as'soon as the cage passed beyond the floor level, the clutch would be disconnected so that the door will immediately close. It is therefore'impossible to lift the door to a dangerous opening, unless the car is stopped'in position opposite the landing, and the motor control switch is closed by hand. w

' In the drawings, I have shown one form of electrical connections, although it will be understood that different forms of connections might be used for operatingthe motor.

motors, as well as actuating means for the motor, may be used than. those disclosed in the drawings-and described inthe specification.

obvious to those skilled in the art, since a simple and effective mechanism is provided which effectually avoids a dangerous opening of the gate when thecage is not stopped in landing position. The flexible connections controlled by the cage may lead in any desired direction so that the hoists may be placed in any desired location.

claim:- 2 v 1. In a door operating mechanism for shafts or elevators, a door arranged to normally move to its closed position, a drum, a fiexibleconnection' between the drum and the door, said drum being arranged to move the door to its open position, an electric motor for actuating the drum, clutch connections betweenthe drum andthe'motor, an

automatic member in position for throwing the clutch mtoj engagement, an actuating device on the cage or elevatorfor actuating the clutch connections to throw in the clutch when the cage is passing said member, an electric switch under the control of the Operator for closing. the circuit through The advantages of my invention will be It will also be understood that other types of the motor, an automatic means arranged to be actuated by the door when it moves to its open position to open said switch to break the circuit to the motor, substantially as described.

2. In av door-operating mechanism for shafts or elevators,a door arranged to move to its closed position by means of gravity, a winding drum having a cable connected thereto and to the door for moving the door to its open position, an electric motor for actuating the drum, a clutch for connecting the motor to the drum, means actuated by the cage or elevator for throwing the clutch members into engagement with each other, an electrical switch under the control of the operator for closing the circuit to the motor to rotate the drum and move the door to its open position, an automatic switch arranged to be actuated by the door when it moves to its open position to break the circuit to the motor, and an automatic brake arranged to be set into operation when the cage is moved to release the clutch to prevent the drum from spinning; substantially as described;

8. In a dooroperating mechanism for shafts or elevators, a door arranged to move to its closed position by means of gravity, a winding drum having a cable connected thereto and to the door for moving the door to its open position, an electric motor for actuating the drum, a clutch for connecting the motor to the drum, means actuated by the cage or elevator for throwing the clutch members into engagement with each other, an electrical switch under the control of the operator for closing the circuit to the motor to rotate the drum and move the door to its open position, an automatic switch arranged to be actuated by the door when it moves to its open position to break the cireuit to the motor, and a spring brake arranged to be set into operation when the cage is moved to release the clutch to prevent the drum from spinning; substantially as described.

4:. In a door-operating mechanism for shafts or elevators, a motor having manual starting mechanism and connections actuated by the opening movement of the gate for cutting off the supply of actuating fluid to the motor, actuating connections between the motor and gate including a clutch, connections actuated by the movement of the cage arranged to open or close the clutch mechanism, the gate being arranged to close to normal position independently of the motor, and brake mechanism arranged to frictionally brake the closing of the gate or door, substantially as described.

5. A door operating mechanism for elevator shafts, comprising a door adapted to normally move to closed position by gravity, means for opening said door, electrically driven mechanism for said means, a normally inoperative clutch between said driving mechanism and said means, a clutch actuating member always arranged to be actuated by the elevator every time it reaches a predetermined level to move said clutch into operative position and hold the same in such position as long as the elevator remains at said level, said clutch actuating member being arranged to be automatically operated to move the clutch to its normally inoperative position when the elevator moves away from said predetermined level, and means for closing the circuit to said driving mechanism, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

RICHARD H. STEVENS. 

